Capstrat again has its own president

Capstrat, one of the largest public relations/communications agencies in the Southeast, has named Karen Albritton president -- filling a position that has been vacant for four years.

Ken Eudy, the CEO and co-founder, concluded the Raleigh firm wasn't big enough to warrant naming a new president after Albritton's predecessor, Monty Hagler, departed in early 2004. But revenue has more than doubled since then, triggering his decision to promote Albritton, who was executive vice president.

"Karen already was doing the job of president," Eudy said. "By giving her the title, we were acknowledging what she already was doing."

Eudy said Albritton, 45, is the right person for the job because she's an effective communicator -- "You don't have to ever guess where Karen is coming from" -- and because she always is pushing staffers "to understand our clients' business as well as they do."

Capstrat was founded in 1994, and its roots are in working for government clients and in the political arena, such as campaigns seeking voter approval for bond issues. But it has steadily expanded its horizons -- into corporate public relations, graphic design and marketing, advertising and interactive services.

Today the agency has 85 employees. Its revenue grew 38 percent last year -- to $12.1 million -- on top of 25 percent growth in 2006, according to Eudy.

Eighty percent of Capstrat's growth in 2007, he added, came from performing additional work for existing clients. The client roster includes Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, GlaxoSmithKline, the N.C. Economic Developers Association, N.C. Health and Wellness Trust Fund, Progress Energy, Quintiles Transnational, the Raleigh Convention Center, RBC Centura, Rex HealthCare, SunCom and the UNC Health Care System.

Some of the agency's new growth areas, said Albritton, are "employee marketing," or helping clients recruit and retain employees; developing online communications strategies; and "online reputation management" -- monitoring what is said about a client online and responding as needed.

Albritton previously headed up the marketing communication group at FGI, which Capstrat acquired in 1999. She also is a former vice president and associate media director at McKinney, the Durham advertising agency.